Turkish soldiers stand at the entrance of the War Academy as police search the residence of a retired army commander in Istanbul, Turkey, Monday, Feb. 22, 2010. Turkish police detained about 50 military commanders Monday for allegedly planning to blow up mosques in order to trigger a military takeover and overthrow the Islamic-rooted government. The nationwide sweep highlighted the ongoing struggle between the secular establishment and the Islamic-oriented government _ and left many wondering if the military no longer called the shots in a nation accustomed to viewing it as the pillar of the secular state. (AP Photo Photo/Ibrahim Usta)

FILE – In this Aug. 10, 2005 file photo, Turkey’s Air Force commander Gen. Ibrahim Firtina, left, seen with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, Turkey. Turkish police detained about 50 military commanders Monday Feb. 22, 2010 for allegedly Several high-ranking members of Turkey’s military ? including Firtina and Navy Chief Adm. Ozden Ornek ? were among those detained. The sweep highlighted the ongoing struggle between the secular establishment and the Islamic-oriented government ? and left many wondering if the military no longer called the shots in a nation accustomed to viewing it as the pillar of the secular state.

We were astounded when the Ergenekon investigation started. We witnessed commanders deemed immune being taken into custody and wondered where this would lead. Then new arrests, new investigations and new accusations emerged. Each time the question was, ?How far will this go??”

The arrest of dozens of high-ranking military figures in Turkey over an alleged coup plan dating back seven years marks the latest episode of a power struggle. Until recently, such tough action was inconceivable against the military which has toppled four governments in 50 years and exercised significant clout in politics. In a massive swoop, anti-terror police Monday detained more than 40 people, including the former air force and navy chiefs, over a purported plan drawn up in 2003 to oust the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Reform in the HSYKHürriyetI am also trying to solve why the dossier of Erzincan Chief Public Prosecutor, which somehow was sent from Erzurum to the prosecutors in the Ergenekon case

If it were not Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ heading up the General Staff but instead some other top general, what would that general have done or have been able to do about the weapons bursting forth from the ground, the various coup plots and the countless headlines, articles and columns being published daily against the military?

by YAVUZ BAYDAR
Yesterday?s wave of arrests must be seen exclusively in the context of the ?Sledgehammer? case. Nevertheless, the magnitude of arrests — both in numbers and rank — and house raids not only complicate the picture of politics but also signify the sharpest-ever turn for civilian-military relations.

by LALE KEMAL
In the midst of allegations of coup plots suspected to be designed by juntas within the Turkish military as well as the current deep cracks that have appeared in the relationship between the government and the staunchly secular, mostly military-influenced judiciary, it may be worth putting the spotlight on Gen. İlker Başbuğ, the Turkish chief of general staff, and Gen. Işık Koşaner, the Turkish land forces commander.

Turkey has kicked off a new week with another great shock. This time, the powerful sledgehammer of justice landed on the generals of the Sledgehammer (Balyoz) coup plan, a treacherous plot to devastate the whole country.

While I was writing these lines, retired top commanders were being taken into custody in connection with a military coup plan called Sledgehammer and being interrogated by the police. Another psychological threshold has been passed in Turkey.

With the recent crisis between members of the judiciary and the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government, the government is being pushed into a difficult position that might cause it to pay too high a price for

[Originally published in Hurriyet Daily News] By now, it is clear to all that an unarmed war is going on within the Turkish state. The latest episode in Erzincan, a city in the east, and its repercussions in Ankara, a city in turmoil, is telling enough. Things began several months ago. First, Erzincan’s chief prosecutor, Ä°lhan Cihaner, started an investigation about a conservative Islamic community in town. Meanwhile, a prosecutor from the neighboring city of Erzurum, Osman Å?anal, who had a special authority to investigate the Ergenekon case, suspected something different. An alleged Ergenekon plan included “finding” guns and bombs in the homes of Islamic communities, by first planting them there. Interestingly, some guns and grenades were found at the bottom of a dry reservoir in Erzincan in October 2009. Following that, Å?anal started his own investigation, which ultimately led him to arrest his colleague Cihaner and attempt to question the army commander in town, a high-ranking general named SaldÄ±ray Berk. But then the Supreme Board of Prosecutors and Judges, or HSYK, intervened. The board not only took prosecutor Å?anal off his duty, but also called for his trial. The government bashed the HSYK for interfering with justice. Then the HSYK bashed the government for, again, interfering with justice.